UNC Pembroke’s Esports team first place in PBC

February 25, 2019
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News
Esports
Yun Yu, left, Crystian Amaya, Yiyi Lyu, Seth Ludlum, Nikolaus Jones, Lucas Williams, Abdul Ghaffar, director of CEL. Not pictured - Jarrod Kilby

UNC Pembroke’s Esports team is currently in first place of the Peach Belt Conference. The team is 4-0 for the season.

The Esports team is in their second season of varsity play for #BraveNation after the sport was officially added in 2018, and falls under the Office for Campus Engagement and Leadership. Esports, a video gaming team, faces direct competition as well as tournament play.



In 2018, the Peach Belt Conference became the first NCAA Division II conference to offer an Esports Championship in line with its other 15 traditional sports offerings with League of Legends from Riot Games. The PBC conducted the first-ever live conference championship in the spring of 2018.



“We are very excited about our second season in the Peach Belt. We feel this year we have a team that can qualify for the playoffs. Crystian Amaya, our team captain, has worked very hard to help us put the team together,” explained Abdul Ghaffar, director of Campus Engagement and Leadership.



The students currently on UNC Pembroke’s roster are:



·  Crystian Amaya, team captain, from Colombia, South America



·  Seth Ludlum from Fayetteville, NC



·  Lucas Williams from Myrtle Beach, SC



·  Yiyi Lyu from Guangzhou, Guangdong, China



·  Nikolaus Jones from Fayetteville, NC



·  Yun Yu from Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China



·  Jarrod Kilby from Wilkesboro, NC



The Esports team provides a venue for our students to compete and connect with 10 other PBC institutions. UNC Pembroke students of various levels - casual or competitive - can join the team to engage in competition, attend practice sessions in the Chavis University Center and other Esports-related events. The Esports team holds open interest meetings where students can elect to try out for the PBC sanctioned team.



“The best thing about competing on a team is the new friendships and bonds you build with people who have the same interest as you, all while trying to achieve a common goal. That goal is being the best we can be both for the game and in our personal lives as well. None of this could be possible if it was not for UNC Pembroke and its Office for Campus Engagement and Leadership,” said Crystian Amaya.



If qualified, #BraveNation’s team will compete at the live, in-person playoff event March 29-30 at the Josephine B. Abney Cultural Center Auditorium in Greenwood, S.C., on the campus of Lander University.



The official 2019 PBC Esports schedule and results can be found at: https://www.peachbeltconference.org/sports/esports/2018-19/schedule.